Easel back for pictures



y 945. R. w. SCHEYER 2,380,076

EASEL BACK FOR PICTURES Filed 001;. 13, 1943 fizverzfor' 13% .fich /yer' UL V 2 6 Z 2 t I A /7fi 0rvze s.

Patented July 10, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,380,076 EASEL BACK FOR PICTURES Roy W. Scheyer, Chicago, Ill.

Application October 13, 1943, Serial No. 506,020

2 Claims.

The present invention pertains to a novel easel back for pictures. v

The general aim of the invention is to produce an easel back which is extremely simple and low in cost, and which is easy to apply and set up, yet which is rugged in construction.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide an easel back in which a pocket flap, opened for insertion of a picture, and an easel flap,'opened to set up the easel, are interrelated in a novel manner such that the easel flap serves to hold the pocket flap rigidly closed whenever the easel. is set up.

Another object is to provide an easel back of the character indicated. in the preceding statement of object and whichis die cut from but a,

single piece of sheet material such, for. example,

as chip board.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, taken'in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which;

Figure l is a perspective view of a framed picture provided with an easel back embodying the easel back, designated generally as I0, is there shown byway of exemplification of my invention. Although this particular exemplification or preferred embodiment .has been shown and described herein in some detail, the invention is susceptible of variousmodifications and alternative constructions. Consequently, it is ,to be understood that I do not intend to limit the inven tion to the specific form disclosed, but intend to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

In the present instance the ease] back in is shown as overlaid by a transparent sheet or panel of glass ll of the sameborder dimensions as the easel back, and attached to the latter by corner clips P2 of conventional form. Obviously, the

I glass may be attached to the easel back in any The easel back to itself is made of sheet material, a variety of which materials, suitable for the present purpose, are available on the market. Chip board or cardboard are desirable because of their low cost. The principal requisites, aside from cost, are that the material be suited for die cutting and creasing or scoring, and that it have sufficient rigidity. For brevity, such material has been referred to herein simply as foldable board.

The sheet which constitutes the easel back is die cut in the form of a flat blank shown in Fig. 4, and in such manner as to provide two principal flaps l4 and I5 interrelated in a novel manner and for a purpose which will shortly appear.

The flap 14 may be termed a pocket flap, since it is provided for insertion and removal of a picture, such as picture It in Fig. 1. For this purpose the flap M is rectangular in outline, being outlined by cutting the blank along the lines ll, l8 and I9 and scoring or creasing it along the dot-dash line 20 in Fig. 4. The flap M is thus integrally hinged to the body of the easel back 10 along the crease 20 so that it may be swung rearwardly out of the planeof the easel back into the position shown in Fig. 1 for insertion or removal of the picture I6. The flap M extends transversely of 'the blank, preferably across a major portion of the latters width in order to permit the insertion of a pictureof maximum width.

The other principal flap l5 may be termed the easel flap since, when swung outward into a position normal to the plane of the body of the easel back as shown in Fig. 2, it serves to hold the assembly generally upright. This flap I5 is defined by a vertically extending score line or crease '2l interrupted in its mid portion to accommodate the formation of a locking tab 22, the adjacent ends of the crease 2| at the region of interruption being joined by a out 23. The flap I5 is completed by cutting the blank along the lines 24 and 25. The line 24 is angled as indicated at 24a to provide a foot at the tail end of the easel, so angled with respect to the face of the ease] back that the assembly is afiorded a stable the flaps [4, I5 overlap, the same being constituted in part by a common portion of the sheet. By virtue of this arrangement simultaneous opening of the flaps I4 and- I5 is precluded. More particularly, when the easel flap I is swung outward to its distended position shown in Fig. 2, it locks and holds the pocket flap M in closed position so that the latter affords a solid backing for the inserted picture IS. The forward edge of the distended easel flap I5 is integrally hinged to the central portion of the pocket flap |4 along the upper portion of the crease line 2| and the upper portion of the easel flap is of such rigidity in an edgewise direction that the pocket flap I4 cannot be pulled open while th easel flap is so distended. On the other hand, when the easel fiap I5 is folded into its collapsed or fiat position in which it conforms to the plane of the body of the easel back, the pocket flap l4 can be readily swung into its open position shown in Fig. 1. While the pocket flap is so opened, however, the easel fiap cannot be pulled open without simultaneously reclosing the pocket flap.

To facilitate opening and closing of the flaps I4, IS, a single aperture or finger hole 26 is cut in the blank. Use of but a single such finger hole is made possible by locating it, as shown, so that it borders on the portion of the sheet which is common to both of the flaps M, l5. By reason of such location, the user can insert a finger tip or finger nail int the hole 26 and flip up either the flap H! or the flap l5.

To hold the easel flap IS in its extended position shown in Fig. 2, any suitable arrangement may be employed such, for example, as the looking tab 22 illustrated. To define this tab the blank is scored or creased along the dot-dashline 2'! (Fig. 4) and out along the line 23, the latter being indented at 23a. Accordingly, alter the easel flap l5 has been swung outward at right angles to the body of the easel back ill, the locking tab 22 can be swung downward to the position shown in Fi 2 in which the indentation 23a receives the adjacent portion of the forward edge of the easel flap, holding the latter securely in position.

By way of contrast, it may be noted that the score lines 2| and 21, although at right angles, do not intersect as do the score lines 2!] and 2! in view of the fact that the score line 2| is interrupted adjacent the score line 21. In consequence, the fiaps l4, I5, which are hinged along the intersecting score lines 20, 2| are interlocked as heretofore described, whereas the flap |5 and tab 22, which are hinged along the respective non-intersecting score lines 2| and 21, are not interlocked and can be, and are, both swung outward without interference with each other.

From the foregoing it will be seen that an easel back has been provided which can be readily die cut or stamped from sheet material in large quantities at low cost. By reason of the described interrelation of the fiaps, the pocket flap is held rigidly closed by the extended easel flap, making unnecessary the use of metal latches or the like for holding the pocket flap closed. In fact, the easel back is formed in its entirety from but a single pice of sheet material without necessitating the cost of gluing, stapling or otherwise attaching any supplemental elements. Moreover, the fact that a single flat blank of sheet material constitutes the easel back in its entirety makes it possible to stack the blanks in minimum space for storage and shipment. On the other hand, the

manipulation of the pocket and easel flaps during insertion of a picture and erection of the easel is so simple as to pose no problem for the user.

I claim as my invention:

1. A die cut easel back for pictures or the like comprising a single flat sheet of foldable' board cut and creased to define within its borders a pocket flap extending transversely across the upper portion of the sheet, said pocket flap being hinged to the remainder of the sheet along a transverse crease line defining the lower edge of said pocket flap and about which the latter is ioldable rearwardly and downwardly out of the plane of said sheet to permit the insertion of a picture through the opening occupied by said pocket flap, and said sheet also being cut and creased to define within its borders an easel flap extending generally longitudinally of the sheet and disposed with its upper portions superimposed on the central portion of the outline of the pocket flap, said easel flap being outlined by cuts in the sheet defining its bottom edge and an upwardly extending side edge, the other side edge of the easel flap being defined by a second crease line in the sheet disposed at right angles to and intersecting the first-mentioned crease line, the rigidity of said superimposed upper portion of said easel fiap against deflection of the same in an edgewise direction serving to retain said pocket fiap firmly in the latters closed position in the plane of said sheet when said easel iiap is folded rearwardly along said second crease lin into a position in which said easel flap projects rearwardly substantially at right angles to the plane of said sheet for supporting the latter.

2. A die cut easel back for pictures or the like comprising a rectangular single fiat sheet of foldable board cut and creased to define within its borders a pocket flap extending transversely across the upper portion of the sheet, said Pocket fiap being hinged to the remainder of the sheet along a transverse crease line defining the lower edge of said pocket flap andabout which the latter is foldable rearwardly and downwardly out of the plane of said sheet to permit the insertion of a picture'through the opening occupied by said pocket flap, and said sheet also being cut and creased to define within its borders an easel flap extending generally longitudinally of the sheet and disposed with its upper portion superimposed on the central portion of the outline of the pocket flap, said easel fiap being outlined by cuts in the sheet defining its bottom edge and an upwardly extending side edge, the other side edge of the easel flap being defined by a second crease line in the sheet disposed at right angles to and intersecting the first-mentioned crease line, and said sheet being further out and creased to define an interlock tab foldable rearwardly of the plane of the sheet along a third crease line intersecting said second crease line and said tab being shaped to engage said easel fiap in the latters rearwardly projecting position and retain the same in the latter position.

ROY W. SCHEYER. 

